DOJ: Westport man to serve 4 years in prison

Updated 6:34 pm, Wednesday, November 8, 2017

WESTPORT — A town resident was sentenced to serve four years in prison after he stole almost $1 million from his employer, the Department of Justice said.

Claude Carnahan, 54, of Westport, was sentenced Tuesday to serve 48 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The DOJ said he embezzled around $984,000 from his employer.

Court documents and statements indicated that from 2008 to 2014, Carnahan embezzled from Nations Roof, LLC. During that time, the DOJ said he was serving as the regional controller for the company. Court documents showed that Carnahan issued company checks made payable to credit card companies that he had personal accounts with.

Carnahan entered checks on company ledgers as being payments of obligations to legitimate vendors in an attempt to cover up his fraud, the DOJ said. He also covered his tracks when he failed to post checks to the general ledger, removed copies of the checks from company bank statements and entered invoices into the system and voided them once they were pain.

On May 15, Carnahan pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. In total, the DOJ said Carnahan stole $984,075.09 from Nations Roof over the roughly six-year period. The judge ordered him to pay full restitution to the company.

Carnahan was released on a $100,000 bond and is ordered to report to prison on Jan. 10, 2018.